of consumer, farm and dairy organizations; and cooperating Commonwealth and federal agencies. BLOOD POLICY AND TECHNOLOGY Mr. WHITTEN. Please submit for the record a copy of the Office of Technology Assessment Report Brief titled "Blood Policy and Technology", dated February 1985, together with whatever comments you may care to add. Dr. YOUNG. I will be pleased to submit for the record a copy of the OTA report on Blood Policy and Technology. It is a very interesting and informative report which deals with programs in blood resources over the past decade; current issues, such as the impact of AIDS in blood collections, use and coordination of blood resources and appropriate use of blood resources; alternative sources and substitutes for blood products; and further technologies and directions for blood banking. We have no further comments to make at this time. [CLERK'S NOTE.-The report is too lengthy to place in this record and only the Introduction is printed. A copy of the full report has been received by the Committee.] Blood OTA Reports are the principal documentation of formal assessment projects. These projects are approved in advance by the Technology Assessment Board. At the conclusion of a project, the Board has the opportunity to review the report, but its release does not necessarily imply endorsement of the results by the Board or its individual members. CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES Recommended Citation: Blood Policy and Technology (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, OTA-H-260, January 1985). Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 85-601151 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents Foreword Posttransfusion hepatitis, inefficiencies in blood collection and distribution, payment for blood donations, and the cost of blood products are subjects that, from time to time, have focused attention on the Nation's blood services system. In response, tests have been developed for detecting carriers of transfusion-related hepatitis. Transfusions with the individual components of blood instead of whole blood have become accepted therapy and also resulted in more efficient use of blood donations. Improved technologies have extended the storage life of blood, and improved methods of collection have enabled large-scale processing of plasma so that its component proteins could be extracted. One result of this progress was increased availability of Factor VIII, the antihemophilic factor, which has allowed hemophiliacs to lead nearly normal lives. In sum, improvements in blood banking and transfusion medicine in the late 1970s and early 1980s have resulted in a stable and safer blood supply. Recent developments, however, create uncertainties. Transfusion-related cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have threatened the safety of the blood supply and the equanimity that has been the foundation of the voluntary blood donor system. Recombinant DNA technologies are being applied to the production of plasma proteins, and other technologies are under development for the production of the cellular components of blood. Legislation of prospective payment by diagnosis-related groupings for Medicare patients' hospital care has begun to exert pressure on blood center revenues as hospitals seek ways to pare costs. Organ and tissue transplants have been increasing, raising questions in the blood banking community about its role in these new types of tissue banks. These developments led the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to request that the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) conduct an assessment of blood policy and technologies. In preparing this report, OTA staff drew upon the expertise of members of the study advisory panel, chaired by Louanne Kennedy; members of the OTA Health Program Advisory Committee, chaired by Sidney S. Lee; representatives from industry, academia and the public; and experts in blood banking and transfusion medicine, blood research and development, and health policy. Key OTA staff involved in the preparation of the report were Lawrence Miike, Denise Dougherty, Jeffrey Stryker, and Anne Guthrie. |